Reversal
by nobodD
Summary: Maki and Hanayo arrive a little late to the clubroom one day, only to find something strange. The other µ's have been turned into kids! What are they going to do? How will they handle this strange phenomenon that occurs over a few days? And what will happen to them? MakiPana one-shot.


**MakiPana, requested by Arrahal92**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

Afterschool at Otonokizaka High School. It was almost time for club activities to start. Maki and Hanayo's class was out a little late, and they only just got out and were on their way to the Muse clubroom.

"I hope the others don't mind that we're a little late," Hanayo said.

"Well, Eli or Umi will likely have something to say about it," Maki pointed out.

"You're probably right..."

"I wouldn't worry too much. There's no important deadline for us, so they probably won't be as strict this time."

Though, as they reached the clubroom, Hanayo still hid slightly behind Maki.

"Come on, Hanayo..."

"G-go ahead..."

Maki sighed, then opened the door. "Sorry we're la-..."

"Maki-chan?"

Maki just stood at the door, her mouth hanging opened. Hanayo looked into the clubroom, and found out what caused Maki to stop so suddenly. The first thing she saw was Rin running up to them. Except, she wasn't the same as usual. Usually Rin running at full speed and then hugging Hanayo would knock them both down. But this time, the only impact Hanayo felt was on her knees. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Rin was turned into a kid again.

Not only that. After watching the child-like Rin run up and attach herself to her leg, Hanayo looked up, and saw that the rest of Muse were different as well. They were all small, just like Rin was.

"W-what's going on here?" Hanayo asked.

"I.. I don't know.." Maki looked around the hallway, then pulled Hanayo into the clubroom and closed the door.

"Rin-chan?" Hanayo asked the girl still hugging her leg.

"Ah, you know Rin's name too?" the girl responded.

"Eh?"

"Rin?" Maki asked. "Don't you know who we are?"

The girl looked at both of them and then shook her head. "No... But." She pointed at Hanayo. "She looks like a big-girl version of Kayo-chin!"

"Rin-chan!" called the girl that looked like a child Honoka. "Come on!"

The girl hugging Hanayo's leg turned around and ran back to the table to join the others. Hanayo and Maki could only look after them in bewilderment.

"Well..." Hanayo said awkwardly. "That has to be Rin-chan... No one else calls me that name."

"But... it's like she didn't remember us..." Maki said.

"What do you think is going on?"

"Well..." Maki walked over to the blond child. "Excuse me. Can I ask what your name is?"

The blond child looked up. "Isn't it polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else their name?"

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're right. I'm Nishikino Maki."

"Ayase Eli."

"Nice to meet you. Do you mind telling me what you're doing here in a high school?"

"I... don't really know, actually..."

A girl with purple hair walked over to Eli and Maki, pulling on Eli's arm while nervously looking up at Maki.

"E-Eli..."

Eli turned to the girl really quickly then back to Maki. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I think that's it. Thank you for your help."

Eli nodded and got off her chair, walking to the couch with the girl who Maki could only assume was Nozomi as a child.

"I guess that answers that..." Maki said. "They're all of the others, but as kids."

"Maki-chan, look," Hanayo said, pointing at the table.

Maki followed where Hanayo pointed. On the table was a small piece of paper. Maki walked over and picked it up.

"What does it say?"

"Three days. Two hours." Maki showed the writing to Hanayo. "That's all it says."

Hanayo looked at it, confused. "What could it mean..?"

"I don't know..." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I guess we'll see if anything else happens in two hours."

"Well... until then... what are we going to do?"

"The only other thing there is to do. We watch over them."

"Excuse me."

Maki felt a tug at her right sleeve. She looked down, seeing that it was the child version of Honoka again. She bent down on her knees so she was leveled with her.

"Yes?" Maki asked in a light voice. "What is it?"

"Do you want to play with us?"

"Uhh... w-well.."

"Is that a no?" The child Honoka made a sad face.

_Great..._ Maki sighed. "I guess I can play with you for a while."

The child perked up again. She grabbed Maki's hand with both of her small hands and started walking over to the desk.

"Kotori-chan, Umi-chan! We have a new playmate!" She called.

Hanayo giggled at the scene. "I guess Honoka-chan's always been like that, huh?"

She looked down as she felt tugging at both her sleeves. It was Eli and Nozomi.

"Is there any food?" the child Eli asked. "We're getting hungry."

"I might have something left over from lunch. Is that okay?"

Both nodded eagerly. Hanayo walked over with them to where she and Maki had dropped their bags. She pulled out the little bag that her bento was in, untied the knot to pull it out, and opened the lid. As the three looked inside, they found the box empty.

"Huh?" Hanayo looked over to Maki, who had the child Umi in her lap with the child Kotori grabbing one of her arms, and the child Honoka climbing her back. "Maki-chan, do you know what happened to my bento?"

"Rin finished it when she came over, remember?" The child Rin. "Oh, it's nothing," Maki told her. "You can go back to playing."

The child Rin turned back to the child Nico and they continued to play. Maki returned her attention to the three kids on her. Hanayo faced the child Nozomi and Eli.

"I guess we'll have to figure something out... Maybe there's something you'll like at the vending machines..."

"Vending machine?" the child Nozomi asked.

Hanayo stood up straight. "Maki-chan, we're going to check the vending machine for snacks. Is that okay?"

"Sure-" Maki managed to call out before falling over to the combined efforts of the child Honoka, Umi, and Kotori.

"Uh..." Hanayo looked down again. "Well, let's get going."

Together the three of them left the clubroom. Before they started walking down the hall, the child Nozomi and Eli each took one of Hanayo's hands with both of theirs.

"So we don't get lost?" Hanayo asked.

They both nodded. Hanayo smiled, and started walking with them toward the cafeteria, where the vending machines were. Luckily for her, they didn't have to pass out in the open, and most clubs don't leave their clubrooms. She didn't really think of how she would explain what she was doing, or who these girls really were.

"Uh oh..."

This was the first time Hanayo was actually getting something from the vending machine, so she wasn't familiar with the prices. Looking at it now, she regretted not asking Maki to chip in.

"Do you two mind sharing a snack?"

"We can share," the child Eli told her.

"Thank goodness... That'll make this easier."

Hanayo bough as much as she could with her small amount of change. She put a few in her pocket, and gave the last two to the child Eli and Nozomi to hold. Then she took both their hands in hers again and they walked back to the clubroom.

Hanayo was quite surprised when they walked in. Maki was on the floor, her uniform quite a mess. The other five child Muse were surrounding her now. The child Honoka, Rin, Nico, and Kotori were all playing and running around. The child Umi was sitting with Maki, trying with fix Maki's uniform. Though, without being familiar with how the uniform looks, she wasn't getting anywhere with it.

"Oh, you're back," Maki said, looking up.

"A-are you okay?" Hanayo asked.

"More or less. Find what you needed?"

Hanayo nodded. She pulled out the snacks from her pockets. "Everyone, snack time," she called out.

That quickly got the kids' attention. They rushed over to Hanayo. The child Nozomi got a bit scared, and held onto Hanayo's leg tightly. Hanayo wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.

"You're going to have to share these," she told the girls. "It was all I could get."

"Aww..." the child Rin sounded.

"You have to share," she repeated. "Or you won't get any at all. Alright?"

Rin quickly quieted herself. The girls all nodded. Hanayo smiled and handed out the rest of the snacks.

"Come on," the child Eli said. "We can all share everything."

She led the other child Muse to the table and they put their collection of snacks down. Hanayo turned her attention to Maki, who was still on the floor. Hanayo got down to sit next to Maki, pulling out a chocolate bar.

"Here, I managed to get one last one out."

"Thanks," Maki said, grabbing the chocolate. She unwrapped it and broke it in half, handing one half to Hanayo.

"How long do you think this will last?" Hanayo asked, taking a bite from her half of the chocolate.

Maki shrugged. "I never would have believed anything like this could even happen. There's no telling how long it will take or what else could happen."

"I don't know if I could handle taken care of all of them for a long time..."

"You seemed to handle them nicely a moment ago."

"I-I guess... I just copied what my mom did when she wanted Rin and me to share snacks as kids."

"I wouldn't sell yourself short," Maki said, taking another bite from her own chocolate. "You have some motherly qualities about you."

"E-eh? Why do you say that, Maki-chan?"

"What, you don't see it?"

Hanayo shook her head. "I don't.."

"Well I do. And after today, I've seen enough to convince anyone else as well."

Hanayo wasn't really sure how to handle Maki's sudden compliment. She just quietly finished the rest of her chocolate bar. As the child Muse finished their snacks, the small Rin came over to Maki and Hanayo.

"Do you want to play again?" she asked Maki.

"I'm still tired, though..."

"Aww... but..."

"Rin-chan," Hanayo interrupted. "Maki-chan needs to rest still. Here, I'll play with you."

The child Rin smiled brightly. "Yay! Come on!"

As she watched Hanayo get pulled to the others, Maki smiled. "See? You'd make a good mother, all right," she said quietly to herself.

After a while, the time was getting close to when Muse would usually be done with activities for the day. Maki and Hanayo were sitting off to the side again, watching as the child Muse, still full of energy, were running around the room.

"It's almost time for us to go," Maki pointed out.

"Yeah... But they're still kids..."

"That note said something about two hours.."

"Hasn't it almost been-"

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light. Both Maki and Hanayo covered their eyes. After that brief moment, it was over. They slowly uncovered their eyes, just to be sure. Though, they were shocked by what they were now seeing.

"Uwah... that hurt..."

"Honoka, can you get off me?"

"Eh? Oh, sorry Umi- EH?!"

"Hey, what's with the scre-"

Honoka and Umi stared at each other, somewhat horrified. Though, that could describe what Hanayo and Maki were feeling right now. They were thankful that, mysteriously, the other Muse returned to normal. But, there was something different. Something was missing... A lot of something...

"Honoka... Umi..." Eli said slowly. "Why are you two... naked?"

"W-what about you?" Honoka asked.

"W-wha?" Eli looked down and, seeing nothing but skin, blushed furiously while she attempted to cover herself with her hands.

"What's been going on here?!" Kotori asked, doing the exact same thing Eli was trying to do, and failing just as well.

"I'm not sure..." Nozomi said. "Why don't we ask the only two girls in the room still with clothes?"

The entire room turned to Maki and Hanayo when they heard that. Then found that it was indeed true that they were the only two with clothes on.

"Y-you two," Nico stuttered, as red as Eli and kotori were in the face. "Explain yourselves."

"E-even if you ask us..." Hanayo said.

"We don't even know where to start..." Maki said.

"H-how about you start with our clothes?" Eli asked.

"Right.."

Hanayo and Maki got up and went to the corner where they gathered the others' uniforms. At this moment, it was the first time it crossed either of their minds about another peculiar thing that happened. While the other Muse were kids, they had completely different clothes on. And when they first entered the room, these uniform pieces were scattered around.

After a bit of sorting through underwear, uniforms, and accessories. The other Muse finally managed to regain their clothing. And for most of them, their bright red complexions returned to their normal skin tones. All except for Honoka and Nozomi, neither who felt _that_ embarrassed about being seen like that. At least if they were embarrassed, they didn't show it the entire ordeal.

Now that everything seemed to be in order, Maki and Hanayo started to explain everything that happened since they first arrived in the clubroom earlier. As the pair finished recalling the events, the other Muse sat with mixed expressions of confusion, surprise, and more embarrassment.

"We... turned into kids?" Umi asked.

Maki nodded. "With what we just saw as well... It was definitely you all as kids."

"Though," Hanayo added. "It seemed like you only had memories from that time."

"Yeah... None of you recognized us."

"Except for Rin-chan, who recognized me."

"But, Honoka, Umi, and Kotori knew each other, and Eli and Nozomi knew each other."

"And you said it lasted for two hours?" Eli asked.

Maki nodded again. "Yeah. We got here right when club activities would have started. And you all turned back to normal at the end of those hours."

Eli looked at the note again. "Well... I guess that would explain the two hours here..."

"But then... what about the three days?" Nico asked.

"I guess it means this will happen for three days total," Nozomi said.

"We won't really know until tomorrow, I guess," Kotori said.

"Well..." Eli said. "Even though we didn't practice, we should be going home. It's starting to get late."

The others agreed, and eventually they all left the clubroom, making their way home.

* * *

The next day, Maki and Hanayo's class was held in a bit late again. That already made them a little uneasy as they quickly made their way to the clubroom. As they reached the clubroom, they were a little hesitant in opening the door. Finally, Maki made herself open the door, and they both went inside.

Just like yesterday, they walked into a room of Muse turned into kids. What was a little different than yesterday, though, was that the other Muse were even younger than last time. Also, the seven of them were spread out at different parts of the room.

"Well... I guess that answers Nico's question from yesterday," Maki said.

"Y-yeah..." Hanayo said nervously.

Maki walked over to the child Eli. "Excuse me."

The child Eli looked up. "Yes?"

"Do you mind if I ask how old you are?"

She held up five fingers.

"Five?"

She nodded.

"I see. Do you happen to know what you're doing here?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, thank you for your help." She lowered herself so she was leveled with the child Eli. "Well, my friend and I are going to watch after you all, okay?"

She nodded, then went back to looking at the picture book in her lap.

"Don't you want to play?"

She shook her head. "I don't know anyone else here."

".. I see. Okay, well we'll be over here if you need anything."

Maki got back up and walked over to Hanayo. "Yup, they're even younger than last time. They haven't met each other yet."

Hanayo didn't say anything. She just looked at Maki with a small smile.

"W-what?"

"You sounded like a mother just then."

"W-where did that come from?"

"Well, you said something similar about me yesterday right?"

"N-never mind then." Maki turned away from Hanayo, trying to hide a blush.

Hanayo just smiled and walked up to Maki's side. "Well.. what should we do? Do we just leave them to themselves like this?"

"I wouldn't worry," Maki said, pointing. "Look."

Hanayo looked up to see the small Honoka walking over to Kotori. She seemed to be speaking softly, cause they couldn't hear her from where they stood. Whatever she said must have cheered Kotori up, because she started smiling, and Honoka jumped onto the couch to sit next to her.

"She really has been like that all her life," Hanayo said.

"Well it looks like we can just sit and watch," Maki said. "It doesn't seem like anything bad will happen."

Just then, there was a tug on her sleeve. Maki looked down and saw that it was Nico.

"I-I'm.. hungry.." she said nervously.

"Ah... I didn't bring money today," Hanayo said.

"I didn't either..."

The child Nico kept looking between them, making them a bit nervous.

"Maybe... the home economics room is open?" Maki thought.

"I-it could be. Can you make anything?" Hanayo asked.

Maki shook her head. "I have personal chefs remember? I haven't had to before."

"Well...I guess I can try. Do you mind watching them until I get back?"

"I don't think we have a choice," she said as Nico tugged at her sleeve more.

"A-alright. I'll try to hurry."

Hanayo turned and left the clubroom. Maki placed a hand on the little Nico's head, smiling.

"Hanayo is going to go and make some food for everyone. So please be patient."

"Okay..."

That seemed to be enough, as Nico went back to the chair she was sitting on before. Maki let out a sigh of relief. Despite her act earlier, she was quite nervous at the thought of watching over seven kids while Hanayo was away.

_I really hope she comes back quickly._

She heard a yawn through the quiet of the clubroom. She looked over, seeing that was Rin who yawned, and was rubbing her eyes now. She walked over to her.

"Rin, do you want to take a nap?" she asked.

Rin nodded.

"Alright."

Maki got up and walked over to the corner. Luckily, of all the random things Nico filled this clubroom with, there were a few blankets and pillows for a similar occasion. She pulled them out, and went to move the table and chairs over. Then she laid out the biggest blanket on the floor, and spread some pillows out. Then she grabbed a smaller blanket and gestured to the young Rin.

"Come here."

The child Rin hopped off her chair and ran to Maki. She laid her head on one of the pillows, and Maki spread out a blanket over her.

"Is that good?" she asked.

Rin smiled and nodded. Maki smiled back and started to get back up. But she was stopped by Rin, who grabbed her arm with both her hands.

"Can you... nap with me?" she asked.

"Uhm..." Maki looked around. She knew she still had to watch over the others. "Well... I guess I can at least lay down with you until you fall asleep."

Rin nodded again, and Maki laid down next to her. Rin instantly snuggled against Maki. _How cute,_ Maki thought, smiling. As she looked around, she saw Kotori and Honoka on her other side.

"Can we be with you also?" Honoka asked.

"Sure."

Maki was now laying on her back as she was being hugged on both sides by the child Honoka and Rin. The young Kotori on Honoka's other side had an arm around Honoka also. The other small Muse also made their way onto the blanket. Maki was going to get up to get the other blankets, but found it wasn't necessary. The small Eli and Nico squeezed themselves in, ending up having to lay on top of Maki. She was thankful that since they were smaller, they weren't that heavy on her. The small Nozomi and Umi cuddled against Rin and Kotori on either side. She had only planned on laying there until Rin had fallen asleep. But suddenly, surrounded by everyone, she felt herself quite comfortable, and drifted off to sleep with them.

Meanwhile, Hanayo had a bit of good luck herself. She found that there were some other students using the home ec room when she arrived. When she told them she wanted to make something for her friends, they generously offered to help make some cookies while teaching her. The only drawback was waiting here while she had no idea what Maki was dealing with. She could only hope Maki wasn't having a hard time.

Once the cookies were finished and packed away, Hanayo thanked the students and quickly made her way back to the clubroom. A lot more time passed than she would have liked. She said she would hurry, yet it took a long time before she had anything to bring back. Finally she made it back to the clubroom and opened the door.

She was quite surprised at what she was looking at. She wasn't expecting Maki to be taking a nap, and much less a nap with the seven small Muse.

_I guess I didn't have to worry after all,_ she thought, smiling. _They look so cute like that... especially-_

Just then, Maki stirred, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Hanayo?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm back," Hanayo said, holding up the bag. "And I brought cookies. Although it doesn't look like we'll need them yet."

"H-how long have you been back?"

"I just got back a minute ago."

Maki sighed in relief. "That's good..." She said to herself.

"Hmm?"

"Uh.. nothing.. A-anyway.." she looked at the clock. "Wow, we've been sleeping for a while."

"Since when?"

"They asked to take a nap a little after you left."

"Good, then you didn't have a hard time at all." Hanayo was extremely relieved.

"Yeah... thank goodness.. I don't know what I would've done if things didn't work out the way they did."

Hanayo walked over and sat down on the other side of the pillow, near where they were resting their heads.

"I think you would've been able to handle them alright," she said.

"M-maybe..."

Maki felt movement on her right side. The child Honoka started rubbing her eyes until she was a little more awake.

"Good afternoon," Hanayo said, smiling.

"Ah, you're back." Honoka sniffed the air. "Mmm..."

"I have some cookies, would you like some?"

Honoka's eyes lit up. She sat up and nodded excitedly. Hanayo took the box out of the bag and opened the lid. She grabbed a cookie and handed it to the small Honoka.

"Here you go. It's still warm."

"Ah." She took the cookie happily. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Hanayo was relieved to see Honoka enjoying the cookie.

Slowly, the other young Muse started waking up. Hanayo made them all sit at the table and set down the box of cookies for them to share. She grabbed two and sat down on the couch with Maki, handing one of the cookies to her.

The rest of the time, Maki and Hanayo played some simple games with everyone. They managed to spend the rest of the time like this without anything crazy happening. Eventually as the hour struck, the seven Muse turned back to normal again. This time, they had their original clothes ready for each of them.

"So, you two were the only ones unaffected again, huh?" Umi asked as she finished putting her clothes back on.

"I guess so.." Maki said.

"I wonder why that is..." Hanayo said.

"We probably won't find out until this is all over," Eli said.

With nothing left to do again, Muse went home for the day.

* * *

The next day, Maki and Hanayo were in the clubroom on time. A blinding flash of light signaled the mysterious phenomenon again. And once again, there was a little difference from last time. The other seven Muse were even younger. Rin was a baby. Honoka, Umi, and Kotori were barely walking. Eli, Nozomi, and Nico could barely speak.

"Well then..." Maki said, looking around.

"H-have you taken care of babies before?"

"Sort of... When I helped my mom at the hospital once..."

"Let's hope that's enough to help us..."

Just then, the baby Rin started crying. Maki walked over to the couch where she was laying and picked her up. She patted her back and started rocking her gently.

"There, there..." she said. "It'll be okay."

She continued until Rin eventually stopped crying. As she quieted down, Maki breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow..." Hanayo said, impressed.

"W-what?"

"You're really good with kids."

"I-I learned from helping my mom, that's all."

Just then, the young Honoka walked up to Maki. Maki looked down, and realized something.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

Honoka nodded. Maki sighed, then looked back at Hanayo.

"We have a problem. We don't have food for them."

"Well, I can just go and make-"

"No you can't," Maki interrupted, startling Hanayo a bit. "Hanayo, they're all babies. Well.. Eli and them are at least two. But still, you can't feed them things like cookies."

"W-well, what do we do then?"

Maki pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well... did they happen to have fruits or vegetables in the home ec room?"

"Uh... I don't remember. I can go and check."

"If they do, can you throw some in a blender or something and bring them back? Oh and get some milk."

"They eat like that?"

"No. But we don't really have what we're supposed to feed them. It's the only thing I can come up with. Hurry please, I don't know if they'll get hungry soon and I'd rather we be prepared."

"R-right."

Hanayo quickly left the clubroom and headed for the home ec room again. As she Rin made random sounds, another thought crossed Maki's mind. She looked down to the small Honoka.

"How old are you?"

She held up a single finger.

"One? So that means..." she looked at Rin. "...I really hope this won't affect you all when you turn back."

The other Muse, now uninterested in Maki, started wandering around the clubroom. They pulled stuff out and tipped a chair over trying to climb on it.

"Why me?" She asked no one in particular. "You all caused no trouble the first two times."

Still carrying Rin, Maki tried her best to keep the baby Muse from making too much of a mess.

Hanayo did her best, but because of her frantic state when she talked to the home ec students again, they didn't quite understand her completely. Hanayo was walking back to the clubroom. In her hands was a tray with smoothies that the home ec students made. Not quite what Maki asked for, but Hanayo just hoped it would work out in the end.

When she got back to the clubroom, she was quite surprised to see it partly a mess. She's never had to take care of babies or toddlers before, so she had no idea what she was leaving Maki alone with. Not to mention she was dealing with seven. _Maybe it's not as bad as it looks,_ she thought.

"Ah, you're back," Maki said. She was still holding Rin with her left arm. Meanwhile she was holding onto Nozomi's hand, as Nozomi was about to reach over and tip over a stack of books.

"I-I'm back." Hanayo was impressed by Maki's coordination.

Maki noticed the tray in Hanayo's hands. "What are those?"

"Smoothies."

"Smoothies? I guess that'll have to do." She looked at the others. "Time to take a break," she announced.

"Aww," little Eli said. "But-"

"No. It's time to take a break. Sit down and have a drink."

Quietly, the six baby Muse walked over and climbed onto the chairs. Maki turned to Hanayo.

"They're all yours. Give the milk to Honoka and them, and see if Eli and them will drink the smoothies."

Hanayo watched as Maki walked over to their bags and grabbed her jacket. "What are you doing?"

"Taking care of Rin. Don't worry, I'll be back."

"How?"

"...You don't need to know yet." Maki covered Rin with the jacket and left the clubroom.

Hanayo just looked confused after Maki. After a moment, she remembered the tray in her hands, and put it on the table. As Maki asked, she distributed the drinks. Eli, Nozomi, and Nico seemed to like the smoothies, or at the very least they continued to drink it. Honoka, Umi, and Kotori took the milk, and had a little bit of trouble with it. Even with the straws, they still spilled a bit on themselves. Not too much, luckily for Hanayo.

Hanayo did her best to keep them from moving off their chairs until Maki returned. She heard the door opened, and turned to find Maki coming back in with Rin. Her jacket was still covering Rin, but Maki's ribbon was undone, and her shirt was partially unbuttoned. She looked a little bit messy, if Hanayo was honest.

"What did you do exactly?" she asked.

Maki just shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"A-alright.."

"Here." Maki walked to Hanayo and handed Rin to her.

"W-wait. But I-"

Maki guided Hanayo to the couch, and adjusted her so she was sitting comfortably with Rin, who she found was sleeping.

"Just sit here with Rin while she's sleeping. Try not to move a lot. I'll handle the others."

Hanayo just nodded. She spent most of the time amazed at Maki as she kept the baby Muse under control. Maki even managed to clean up the room while she watched them.

Eventually, the girls got tired, and laid down in various parts of the room. Maki gave them each a blanket and pillow, and finally got to sit down on the couch with Hanayo.

"Maki-chan," Hanayo said. "If I ever have kids, can I get you to babysit them for me?"

"W-what?"

"Well, you're really good at taking care of kids."

"Like I said, it's just because I helped my mom before. I only know small stuff."

"But you did a better job than I could've done."

"What about you? All I can do is watch over them. You're the one that's made their meals. If you weren't here, they couldn't have eaten."

"M-maybe that's true..."

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Maki spoke again.

"Thank you, though," she said.

"For what?"

"Y-you know. For helping during all this... A-and... for those things you said about me..."

Hanayo noticed Maki looking away from her, and smiled. "You're welcome. And thanks for your kind words to me as well."

Eventually, the time came and Muse turned back to normal. They all left the clubroom quicker than usual. As they left the school and continued walking, they were talking about the day's events.

"Babies... huh?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah... It was quite a surprise," Hanayo answered.

"Did you think we were cute babies?" Kotori asked.

"Yes! All of you," Hanayo said enthusiastically.

"Did you feed us?" Eli asked.

Maki nodded. "We did what we could."

"What about Rin? If I'm understanding this right, she should've been-"

"I took care of it," Maki said quickly. "Just, don't finish that line of thinking."

"Oh?" Nozomi said, smiling. "That's quite a task, Maki."

"Please don't say anything," Maki said, her face in her hand.

"What, what?" Rin asked.

"Nothing Rin," Nozomi answered. "Maki here just showing she'd be a capable mother already."

"Nozomi!"

"Alright, alright. I'll stop."

"Well, thankfully it's over after today," Nico said.

The other's couldn't agree more.

* * *

Maki and Hanayo were a little slow getting out of class again. But they took it easy, as they didn't have to worry about the crazy things that happened the last few days. Or at least, that's what they thought. As they walked into the clubroom though, they were in for a huge surprise.

The other seven Muse were once again younger. The catch this time, they were all different ages. Umi, Eli, and Nozomi were like the first day. Kotori, Rin, and Nico were like the second day. Honoka was a baby like yesterday.

"W-what?" Maki said in disbelief.

"I thought we were done with this?" Hanayo asked.

"We should've been done yesterday."

"Then... why?"

Hanayo was cut off by Honoka's crying. Maki rushed over to pick her up and try to quiet her down.

"Ugh.. I don't believe this..." she said.

Maki and Hanayo were made busy really quick. Something else they found out was that the younger Muse were more restless than the other days. Maki couldn't get them to sit still, and she and Hanayo had to do a lot more to keep the place somewhat clean. Baby Honoka as well was harder to please. Between trying to control the others, Maki had to put a lot of effort in calming Honoka down.

By some miracle, they managed to get the six young Muse to sit still and quietly, all at once. Maki also managed to rock Honoka to sleep. Maki and Hanayo sat on the couch, very tired. Maki had to be careful not to wake Honoka up by sitting down to fast.

"Finally," Maki sighed.

"Do you think they'll turn back to normal at six again?" Hanayo asked.

"Considering they should be normal right now... I don't know if we can trust that note anymore."

"Well... If they don't end up turning back to normal, what will you do?"

Maki thought about it. "I guess we bring them to their families? But I don't know how to explain what happened to them."

"What if... we take care them?"

"...What?"

"Yeah. If they don't turn to normal, we could always take care of them."

"You mean... raise them... together?"

Hanayo nodded. "It's like you said. We couldn't explain this to their families."

"W-well yeah. But... to raise them ourselves?"

"We could do it. We've done it so far. And we can help each other with what the other can't do."

"Y-yeah... b-but..."

"And... If I had to spend that kind of time with one person, I'd rather it be you than anyone else."

"...W-what?"

Hanayo smiled. "You heard me. I'd choose you to spend the rest of my life with. Because, I've grown to love you, Maki."

"H-Hanayo.." That got Maki's face to almost resemble the color of her hair. "I-I feel the same way.."

"You mean it?"

Maki nodded. "I.. I love you too, Hanayo."

They were about to lean in for a kiss, but were interrupted by a bright flash of light. The next thing they knew, there was suddenly more weight, on both of them. They looked down at a Honoka was now back to normal.

"Am... Am I interrupting something?" She asked.

* * *

"We changed again?" Eli asked as they were leaving the school.

"Well, at least it didn't last as long this time," Kotori said.

"Hopefully it's done with now," Nico said, clearly annoyed by whatever had been the cause of their changing.

"How romantic, though," Nozomi said. "A confession to bring us back to normal."

"B-be quiet," Maki stuttered.

"Maki-chan..." Hanayo said, squeezing her hand tighter.

"Okay.. Sorry Nozomi."

"It's alright. As long as we can see that kiss we interrupted."

"N-Nozomi!"

Hanayo turned to Maki and pressed their lips together. Everyone stopped walking in surprise by Hanayo's sudden boldness.

"There, maybe you'll calm down a little," Hanayo said playfully.

"Aww, Kayo-chin's all grown up!" Rin said excitedly.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**So, the idea of this strange phenomenon of most of Muse changing ages came from another anime. I remembered it recently, and really wanted to use that idea for a fanfic. I didn't think it would turn out like this though... eheh. As for choosing which pairing, I looked through what pairings have been requested. I saw MakiPana, and seeing as how there isn't a MakiPana fic here, and thinking how nicely this could work for them, I decided to choose them for this oneshot. I know Hanayo was a bit OoC at the end... but it worked out in my head... so I put it in xp**

**The anime that this idea came from is Kokoro Connect, for those of you that are interested.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this oneshot. Let me know your thoughts in the reviews. Hope to see you around~**


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